By Kimberly Jones | July 1, 2024
Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk discussed the state of election integrity with Dr. Ben Carson, a man with a resume marked by excellence in the face of challenge, at the People’s Convention in Detroit on Saturday, June 15.
Carson, the Founding Chairman of My Faith Votes (MFV), pulled no punches in reference to the challenge before us.
The United States of America is the major obstacle to one world government and Marxism… and that’s why there’s such an effort to overcome us… driving wedges, getting us to hate each other.
Carson then appealed to citizens' heritage:
The reason that we have the freedom that we have now and the ability to live in peace is because there were people before us who were willing to stand up for what they believe in, many of them, not just to vote – They gave their lives!
Carson challenged Americans to their own legacy.
“I would ask… what are you willing to do for your children? Because what we do today will have a dramatic impact on the kind of life that they will have.”
He continued “This is America. We have the can-do spirit; not the what-can-you-do-for-me spirit.”
Carson challenged us to “get involved in the process.”
“Volunteer to be a poll-watcher and if you’re a poll watcher, you don’t listen to the people who say you can watch the polls, but you gotta do it way over there where you can’t see anything,” he said. “We don’t have to accept that.”
We don’t have to accept it if they say, "the signatures don’t have to match." We don’t have to accept it if there are 100 ballots from the same address and they say, "It’s okay."
It’s not okay.”
We don’t have to accept it if people don’t have voter ID.
We don’t have to accept any of these things.
My Faith Votes went into more depth about their mission focus with the Christian community at a breakout session Sunday. CEO Jason Yates explained MFV formed to address a startling statistic.
We estimate one in three Christians are not voting” but that they can easily decide the outcome of the next election if just ten percent of them vote.
In line with its approach to provide bite-sized action items to encourage the Christian faith community to PRAY, THINK, VOTE, MFV aims to give “everyday people something they can do to impact the integrity of our elections.”
Yates directed voters to the organization's new website: www.electionintegritynow.org. There, he said, viewers could engage with action items in line with Dr. Carson’s call.
No matter how much time or how little time one has, these action items are nugget-sized. They are broken down by federal, state, or local levels and include connections to become poll-watchers and workers at the local level.
One could also elect to become knowledgeable about, and ask their representatives to vote for, several issues at the state or federal level. As an example, readers may become part of groups focusing on the SAVE Act, federal legislation to make it illegal for non-citizens to vote.
THE CHALLENGE BEFORE THE FAITH COMMUNITY
Yates explained some of the historical changes, statistics and research findings that showed the organization the need for its approach. He said, “America is not a Christian nation… [but] it was established on Christian principles.”
He further cited the following statistics:
Seven states are expected to make a difference in the next election. They are Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin
Eligible votes in those states are about 36 million.
385,000 votes in those 7 states made the difference in 2020.
“Some of the states were decided by as few as 10,000 votes”
He warned,
If we [people of faith] leave a vacuum in the public square… something fills that void, and it isn’t the principles we hold dear.
He referenced Patrick Henry as an example of a citizen who raised up the principles of virtue, morality, and religion in the public square. My Faith Votes, he said, seeks to meet with modern faith voters, and he warned, “we can’t afford as a faith community to exit the public square.”
Yates cited results of recent survey. When asked whether their faith informed their vote, six out of ten Christians answered no. When asked if their church did anything to equip them, 70% answered no.
WHAT CAN INDIVIDUALS DO?
Yates reports an inverse relationship in data between church attendance and voter turnout. Turnout is low in states where there is high church attendance and, regardless of the four categories potential voters find themselves in below, they can start a course correction by becoming action partners at www.myfaithvotes.org where they can find “little things.. to make a difference.” Those four identified categories for individuals to pray and think about if they decide not to act are:
Apathy – Christians who are not mature in their faith may conclude “my vote doesn’t matter” (re-visit the statistics above)
Self-righteousness – MFV points out that “Christ isn’t on the ballot… every person you have a choice to vote for is a flawed candidate.”
Deceived – Many potential voters think they can’t make a difference (re-visit the statistics above)
Uninformed – Many would vote if they have information about candidates along with when and where to vote.
WHAT CAN PASTORS AND CHURCH LEADERS DO?
Yates delved deeper into the current cultural changes that have flowed down from theology with Pastor Lucas Miles who wrote “Woke Jesus: The False Messiah Destroying Christianity.”
Miles is honest that if you’re a pastor “You have to decide whether to deal with this head on… and you have to count the cost.” He provides resources for pastors, church leaders and those who want to come alongside their pastors at www.amercianpastorproject.org
For many, the public square is not what they believe it to be. The choice for each person to make is, “Will I turn away from the public square because I can’t do anything about it? Will I turn away from the public square because no one ‘good’ is running for office? Will I turn away from the public square because my vote or my assistance really isn’t large enough to make a difference?”
This is the year to swallow apathy, pride, and indifference. This is the year to take a bite-sized nugget to stand up, vote, and assist in one small way.
Stand behind the long line of patriots such as Patrick Henry who took small bite-sized nuggets and, collectively, freed the colonies from the tyranny of British rule. Stand behind the long line of patriots whose public square had British soldiers surrounding them and policing them at all times.
Charlie Kirk summed up the situation, saying,
We are “doing fraud to ourselves if we don’t vote.”
Kim Jones is a member of the MFE Communications Team. She began her career writing for weekly newspapers in Michigan, rounded-out her experience with several positions in the real estate industry and has been a practicing Michigan attorney since 2003. An avid reader of Nancy Drew from way-back, she hasn't met a mystery she could resist.
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